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#ChesterRaceWeek
/ChesterRaceWeek4 days, 4 courses, 14 fleets, 140 sailboats, 1,200 sailors
Canada’s largest keel boat regatta
Sailing rock stars make Sonar fleet a friendly grudge match
Canadian Olympian, Soling World and America’s Cup champion, Andreas Josenhans, called nine friends and put together Chester Race Week’s first-ever Sonar class in the One Design Fleet – and it was a who’s who of champions including Beijing Paralypmics gold medallist Paul Tingley and two-time Olympian Colin Guthrie.
“These guys sailed in a tight pack all day, and were so competitive that after four races on day one, the top three finishers were separated by a single point each – it was a grudge match, but a friendly one,” said Liz Shaw, Chester Race Week 2015.
Photo: Multi-world champion, Paralympic gold medallist and Rio 2016 Paralympic hopeful, Paul Tingley, powering through the Sonar fleet in Maslow (blue spinnaker). (Credit: TimWilkes.com)
Thick fog on Mahone Bay caused some sailors to wonder if their races would be cancelled. With the rain coming down through light winds, the fog lifted and the light wind turned squirrelly – blowing up and down, left and right – not as forecast.
The able race committee officers kept adjusting the course to changing weather conditions, keeping racers busy. Everyone adapted well and kept their spirits up in the rain.
Course description and highlights
Alpha
Fastest boats (lowest handicapped, PRHF* < 99 rating), Grand Prix and distance courses
A great course – 5.5 mile windward leg, then a 2-mile beat and 2 reach legs leveled the playing field. Agincourt’s Bob Cragg (Chester Yacht Club) had a brilliant start and held it during the reaches against favoured sprit boats for the win in Alpha 1 fleet.
Bravo
Fast boats (mid-handicapped, PRHF 99+ rating), Grand Prix and distance courses
Mayhem’s Richard Gerstenberger (Dartmouth Yacht Club) adapted to a shifting breeze in Bravo 3 and made good decisions when the course was changed to increase his lead for the win.
Charlie
Bluenose class boats in Chester harbour (our largest one-design fleet), Windward-leeward courses
Malcolm Fraser (Chester Yacht Club) had a standout performance winning two of three races in Shaken Not Stirred.
Delta
Classic wooden boats (many 100+ yrs old) and non-spinnaker boats, around-the-buoys courses
This was the closest racing of the day. Thirteen seconds separated the first and second-place finishers in the non-spinnaker class, and one second separated classic wooden boats Seneca (David Creighton) and Virginia (John Wurts Jr.) both of Chester Yacht Club.
One-design
J/24, J/70, Farr 30, Sonar, International One Design (IOD)
Henry Demone (Chester Yacht Club) emerged victorious in Bella Rena in a highly competitive fleet.
Click to find registered yachts by fleet:
- Sail #, yacht owner/skipper, yacht club, home port, yacht type, length, handicap
- Note: you may be prompted to identify the regatta you seek. Enter “2015 Chester Race Week”
Alpha Course Racing PHRF_ToT Division
Alpha A1
1. Can 430 AGINCOURT N/M 43CR Bob Cragg
2. 135 USA 135 Team Ocean Melges 32 John Roy 2 2.0
3. CAN 35038 Brigand ID35 Shawn Mulrooney
Alpha A2
1. CAN 50271 Deviation J 120 Stu McCrea
2. CAN 5255 Ramillies Beneteau First 44.7 David Wilson 2 2.0
3. CAN 50141 Wandrian Taylor 41 Bill Tucker
Alpha A3
1. CAN 34539 MacIntosh Custom Cartwright Durk Steigenga 1 1.0
2. CAN 8 Poohsticks J 92 Colin Mann
3. USA 41057 J’ai Tu J 35 Rodney Johnstone / Gary Bennett 3 3.0
Bravo Course Racing PHRF_ToT Division
Bravo B1
1. CAN 31991 Rumblefish J 29 FRIB Scott Covey
2. CAN 117 Paradigm Shift J 29 DON Williams
3. CAN 235 Favourite Child J 29 Carlisle & Erin Norwood 3 3.0
Bravo B2
1. CAN 219 Scotch on the Rocks T 10 Arthur Backman 1 1.0
2. CAN 256 FluxJ 30 Jordan MacNeil
3. CAN 14991 Slyfox Peterson 29 James Mosher
Bravo B3
1. CAN 221 Mayhem C&C 29 Mark II Richard Gerstenberger 1 1.0
2. CAN 131 Hotspur Santana 23 Tyson Hynes
3. CAN 7 Tempus Fugit Alberg 37 David McVay
Charlie Course Racing
One Design Division
Bluenose
1. B 266 Shaken Knot Stirred Bluenose Malcolm Fraser 1 1 4 6.0
2. CAN 101 Fish n Chips Bluenose Christian Luthi 7 3 1 11.0
3. CAN 257 WahoomBluenose Andreas Demone 2 8 2 12.0
Delta Course Racing
PHRF_ToT Division
Classics
1. CAN P3 Seneca Classic Wurts Christopher
2. USA Q5 Virginia Universal Q John W Jr Wurts
3. FKC 21 Rondo Folkboat Dayna NELDER
Non-Spinnaker D1
1. CAN 59711 Pursuit Peterson Custom 46 bob belliveau 1 1.0
2. CAN B96 AKUBRA J 44 Reginald Goodday
3. CAN 22440 Mischief C&C 40 Jeff Costwell
Non-Spinnaker D2
1. CAN 1046 Seasong Tanzer 22 Heiner Josenhans
2. USA 4962 SEABREAKER AND C Bruce nunn
3. CAN 20250 Aspire IICatalina 27 James Gaw
OD Course Racing
One Design Division
J 24
1. CAN 3849 Lightning McQueen J 24 Ian Dawson 1 3 2 1 7.0
2. CAN 3968 HypeWave J 24 Chris Veinot 6 1 1 2 10.0
3. CAN 42 Jamming J 24 Nicholas Hamblin 2 2 5 4 13.0
International One Design
1. CAN 1 mighty mo IOD richard thompson 1 3 4 1 9.0
2. CAN 3 Squall IOD Peter Wickwire 2 1 2 4 9.0
3. CAN 7 Elida IOD Jay Nadelson 3 2 3 2 10.0
Farr 30
1. USA 683 Ramrod Farr 30 Rodrick Jabin 1 1 1 1 4.0
2. USA 28 One More Time Farr 30 Rob Gale 3 3 2 2 10.0
3. CAN 47 Venturesome Farr 30 Ben Maloney 4 4 3 3 14.0
Sonar
1. CAN 834 Bella Rena Sonar Henry Demone 1 3 3 4 11.0
2. CAN 571 Echo Sonar John Whynacht 2 2 6 2 12.0
3. CAN 754 PING Sonar Andreas Josenhans 4 1 1 7 13.0
About Chester Race Week
Hosted by the Chester Yacht Club in the picturesque South-Shore Nova Scotia town of Chester in mid August each year, Chester Race Week is Canada’s largest annual keel boat regatta and plays host to more than 130 boats from up and down the Eastern Seaboard.
The regatta was first documented in 1856 and has since been named one of Sailing World magazine’s 14 greatest sailing events in North America. “Race Week” as it is known locally, sees tourists and locals alike taking in the natural beauty of the area by both land and sea. A community-based, volunteer-driven event, Chester Race Week boasts a full schedule of public-friendly events with boat tours, live music, great food, yacht races, plus racing seminars from internationally renowned sailors, tacticians, boat builders and sail makers.
Visit www.ChesterRaceWeek.com for race and social schedules.
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Media contact:
Lead: Susan Tate, M 902-441-6135, [email protected]
Alternate: Heather Martin, M 902-809-4175, [email protected]